how France is how failing to protect its women

At least 75 women have been killed by their current or former partners in France since January this year. Some activists say the deaths could have been prevented if France had the political will to follow the example of Spain and offer better protection to women victims of domestic violence.

4 July: Isabelle, 37, is run over by her partner near Reims; 5 July: Christelle, 32, mother of four, is stabbed to death by her partner in Perpignan; 6 July: a woman aged 31 is strangled to death by her partner near Paris.

There have been an average of two femicides per week in France since the beginning of the year and 80 percent of the victims were killed in their own homes.

“These aren’t family dramas, separation dramas or crimes of passion,” rages the Facebook group @feminicide that began tracking the number of femicides in France in January. “This is domestic violence perpetrated by frustrated men who believe they have a licence to kill.”

France is how failing to protect its women

Femicide - the murder of women because of their gender - usually by a partner or family member, is not a new phenomenon in France. The French Interior Ministry reported 130 cases in 2017: that’s one every three days.

The most recent data from 2015 shows that France had more femicides per year than the UK, Netherlands, Italy and Spain, but fewer than Germany, Switzerland, and several Eastern European nations.

Both president Emmanuel Macron and his justice minister Nicole Belloubet have admitted the state is “not doing enough”.

Emmanuelle Rivier, a lawyer and specialist in domestic violence, goes much further.

“Most of the time, those deaths could have been avoided. Violence has become normalised. There's a chronic lack of training for professionals dealing with these women, whether in the police or judiciary, a lack of staff, and a lack of political will. The government has made gender equality its national cause but there’s nothing behind it.”

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